Redundancy control for data traffic through a wireless link

ABSTRACT

A device (150) is arranged on a source side of a wireless link (50) and receives data traffic from one or more source devices (201, 202, 203). The device (150) forwards the data traffic via the wireless link (50) and via a further device (11), which is arranged on a destination side of the wireless link (50), towards one or more destination devices (21, 22, 23, 24). The device (150) receives redundancy information from the further device (11). The redundancy information indicates redundant payload which is common to multiple data frames in the data traffic forwarded by the device (150). Based on the redundancy information, the device (150) removes the indicated redundant payload from at least a part of the data traffic to be forwarded by the device (150).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to methods for controlling transmission ofdata in a wireless communication network and to corresponding devices,systems, and computer programs.

BACKGROUND

In industrial automation environments, data transmissions may beutilized for controlling various processes or devices, such as robots orprocessing machines. While wire-based communication provides a reliableand well-established way of conveying such data transmissions,utilization of wireless communication may provide several benefits. Forexample, wireless communication may provide more flexibility andfacilitate installation.

However, in the case of wireless communication also typical constraintsof wireless technologies may need to be considered. For example, radioresources utilized by a wireless communication technology are typicallyconsidered as scarce resources. It is therefore desirable to utilize theradio resources as efficiently as possible. On the other hand, limitedavailability of radio resources may result in increased latency of datatransmissions. Further, since wireless communication may be affected byinterference and variable radio channel conditions, also reliabilityneeds to be considered.

In the 5G (5^(th) Generation) radio technology developed by 3GPP (3^(rd)Generation Partnership Project), also referred to as NR (New Radio)technology, a service referred to as URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low-LatencyCommunication) may be used to provide reliable low latency communicationwith maximum delays in the range of a few milliseconds. However, withdecreasing latency limits URLLC requires more radio resources. This maylimit the number of possible URLLC connections that can be served with agiven available bandwidth. The number of possible URLLC connections isregarded as a relevant KPI (Key Performance Indicator) of a wirelessnetwork deployment, in particular for industrial automationenvironments, where a high number of parallel wireless connections maybe required for controlling a large number of processes and devices at afactory site, without requiring particularly high data throughput on thewireless connections. Even though the URLLC feature of the NR technologyprovides characteristics which are desirable for wireless communicationin an industrial automation environment, also other wirelesstechnologies may be utilized, such as the 4G (4^(th) Generation) radiotechnology developed by 3GPP, also referred to as LTE (Long TermEvolution) technology.

There exist several possibilities of connecting industrial automationdevices, e.g., servo motors, actuators, robot arms, conveyor belts, orthe like, to a wireless network. According to one example, oneindustrial automation device can be connected to one wireless gateway.According to a further example, multiple wireless devices can beconnected to one wireless gateway. The wireless gateway may beimplemented by a user terminal, also referred to as UE (user equipment).In each case, this may result in a situation where many industrialautomation devices share the same radio resources, because even ifmultiple UEs are used as wireless gateways, there is a high likelihoodthat these UEs will be connected to the same cell of the wirelessnetwork.

In industrial automation environments occurrence of cyclic communicationpatterns is quite typical. For example, a controller may send a commandto an industrial automation device and might await a feedback from theindustrial automation device as a reply, e.g., containing certain statusinformation and/or measurement results, forming a control loop. A cycletime of the control loop may be defined as the time between twoconsecutive commands sent from the controller to the industrialautomation device. In application scenarios which are eithersafety-critical or are subject to certain accuracy requirements,typically lower cycle times are utilized, i.e., the controller and theindustrial automation device communicate more frequently.

In practical scenarios, the communication patterns may be more complex.For example, the communication may involve more devices than a singlecontroller and a single industrial automation device, e.g., multipleindustrial automation devices receiving commands from one or evenmultiple controllers, including the possibility of using cycle timeswhich differ between the involved industrial automation devices orcontrollers. Some industrial automation applications are polling basedto avoid a need of synchronization of the controller and the industrialautomation device. In such cases, the industrial automation device maysend the feedback or other data in response to a polling request fromthe controller, without being aware about any cycle time. Still further,the utilized wireless technology may introduce further cycle times,e.g., by requiring that successfully received data transmissions areacknowledged within a certain time.

For such cyclic communication pattern, a maximum latency may be defined.In industrial automation environments, the maximum latency is alsoreferred to as “deadline”. The deadline may correspond to a timeinterval in which the communication needs to be successfully completed.In the above-mentioned example of a controller sending commands to anindustrial automation device, the deadline may be defined by a timeinterval starting when sending the command and within which the feedbackneeds to be received. Depending on the application, deadline violationsmay be allowed to a certain extent. For example, one deadline violationmay be tolerated, but multiple deadline violations in consecutive cyclesor within a certain time window not. A potential reaction to deadlineviolations is a shutdown of the industrial automation device to avoidsafety issues. The deadline requirements may result in certainconstraints with respect to managing and controlling the wirelesscommunication. For example, this may result in a requirement to avoidqueueing of data as far as possible, because queuing of data typicallyleads to additional latency.

As mentioned above, wireless communication is typically resourceconstrained, e.g., due to sharing of the same radio resources bymultiple devices. On the other hand, the communication patternsoccurring in industrial automation environments are typically notcompatible with optimized utilization of shared resources.

Accordingly, there is a need for techniques which allow for efficientlytransmitting data traffic in an industrial automation environment bywireless communication.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment, a method of controlling data transmission ina wireless network is provided. According to the method, a device isarranged on a source side of a wireless link. The device receives datatraffic from one or more source devices. The device forwards the datatraffic via the wireless link and via a further device, which isarranged on a destination side of the wireless link, towards one or moredestination devices. The device receives redundancy information from thefurther device. The redundancy information indicates redundant payloadwhich is common to multiple data frames in the data traffic forwarded bythe device. Based on the redundancy information, the device removes theindicated redundant payload from at least a part of the data traffic tobe forwarded by the device towards the one or more destination devices.

According to a further embodiment, a method of controlling datatransmission in a wireless network is provided. According to the method,a device is arranged on a destination side of a wireless link. Thedevice receives data traffic from one or more source devices via thewireless link and via a further device, which is arranged on a sourceside of the wireless link. The device forwards the received data traffictowards one or more destination devices. The device detects redundantpayload which is common to multiple data frames in the data trafficreceived by the device. The device sends redundancy informationindicating the detected redundant payload to the further device. Inresponse to sending the redundancy information, the device receivesfurther data traffic from which the indicated redundant payload wasremoved by the further device. The device reconstructs the removedredundant payload and forwards the received further data traffic withthe reconstructed redundant payload towards the one or more destinationdevices.

According to a further embodiment, a device for handling data traffic ona source side of a wireless communication link is provided. The deviceis configured to receive data traffic from one or more source devices.Further, the device is configured to forward the data traffic via thewireless link and via a further device, which is arranged on adestination side of the wireless link, towards one or more destinationdevices. Further, the device is configured to receive redundancyinformation from the further device. The redundancy informationindicates redundant payload which is common to multiple data frames inthe data traffic forwarded by the device. Further, the device isconfigured to, based on the redundancy information, remove the indicatedredundant payload from at least a part of the data traffic to beforwarded by the device towards the one or more destination devices.

According to a further embodiment, a device for handling data traffic ona source side of a wireless communication link is provided. The devicecomprises at least one processor and a memory. The memory containsinstructions executable by said at least one processor, whereby thedevice is operative to receive data traffic from one or more sourcedevices. Further, the memory contains instructions executable by said atleast one processor, whereby the device is operative to forward the datatraffic via the wireless link and via a further device, which isarranged on a destination side of the wireless link, towards one or moredestination devices. Further, the memory contains instructionsexecutable by said at least one processor, whereby the device isoperative to receive redundancy information from the further device. Theredundancy information indicates redundant payload which is common tomultiple data frames in the data traffic forwarded by the device.Further, the memory contains instructions executable by said at leastone processor, whereby the device is operative to, based on theredundancy information, remove the indicated redundant payload from atleast a part of the data traffic to be forwarded by the device towardsthe one or more destination devices.

According to a further embodiment, a device for handling data traffic ona destination side of a wireless communication link is provided. Thedevice is configured to receive data traffic from one or more sourcedevices via the wireless link and via a further device, which isarranged on a source side of the wireless link. Further, the device isconfigured to forward the received data traffic towards one or moredestination devices. Further, the device is configured to detectredundant payload which is common to multiple data frames in the datatraffic received by the device. Further, the device is configured tosend redundancy information indicating the detected redundant payload tothe further device. Further, the device is configured to, in response tosending the redundancy information, receive further data traffic fromwhich the indicated redundant payload was removed by the further device.Further, the device is configured to reconstruct the removed redundantpayload and forward the received further data traffic with thereconstructed redundant payload towards the one or more destinationdevices.

According to a further embodiment, a device for handling data traffic ona destination side of a wireless communication link is provided. Thedevice comprises at least one processor and a memory. The memorycontains instructions executable by said at least one processor, wherebythe device is operative to receive data traffic from one or more sourcedevices via the wireless link and via a further device, which isarranged on a source side of the wireless link. Further, the memorycontains instructions executable by said at least one processor, wherebythe device is operative to forward the received data traffic towards oneor more destination devices. Further, the memory contains instructionsexecutable by said at least one processor, whereby the device isoperative to detect redundant payload which is common to multiple dataframes in the data traffic received by the device. Further, the memorycontains instructions executable by said at least one processor, wherebythe device is operative to send redundancy information indicating thedetected redundant payload to the further device. Further, the memorycontains instructions executable by said at least one processor, wherebythe device is operative to, in response to sending the redundancyinformation, receive further data traffic from which the indicatedredundant payload was removed by the further device. Further, the memorycontains instructions executable by said at least one processor, wherebythe device is operative to reconstruct the removed redundant payload andforward the received further data traffic with the reconstructedredundant payload towards the one or more destination devices.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, a computer programor computer program product is provided, e.g., in the form of anon-transitory storage medium, which comprises program code to beexecuted by at least one processor of a device for a wireless network,in particular a device for handling data traffic on a source side of awireless communication link. Execution of the program code causes thedevice to receive data traffic from one or more source devices. Further,execution of the program code causes the device to forward the datatraffic via the wireless link and via a further device, which isarranged on a destination side of the wireless link, towards one or moredestination devices. Further, execution of the program code causes thedevice to receive redundancy information from the further device. Theredundancy information indicates redundant payload which is common tomultiple data frames in the data traffic forwarded by the device.Further, execution of the program code causes the device to, based onthe redundancy information, remove the indicated redundant payload fromat least a part of the data traffic to be forwarded by the devicetowards the one or more destination devices.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, a computer programor computer program product is provided, e.g., in the form of anon-transitory storage medium, which comprises program code to beexecuted by at least one processor of a device for a wireless network,in particular a device for handling data traffic on a destination sideof a wireless communication link. Execution of the program code causesthe device to receive data traffic from one or more source devices viathe wireless link and via a further device, which is arranged on asource side of the wireless link. Further, execution of the program codecauses the device to forward the received data traffic towards one ormore destination devices. Further, execution of the program code causesthe device to detect redundant payload which is common to multiple dataframes in the data traffic received by the device. Further, execution ofthe program code causes the device to send redundancy informationindicating the detected redundant payload to the further device.Further, execution of the program code causes the device to, in responseto sending the redundancy information, receive further data traffic fromwhich the indicated redundant payload was removed by the further device.Further, execution of the program code causes the device to reconstructthe removed redundant payload and forward the received further datatraffic with the reconstructed redundant payload towards the one or moredestination devices.

Details of such embodiments and further embodiments will be apparentfrom the following detailed description of embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an exemplary data transmission scenarioaccording to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example of a cyclic transmissionpattern which may occur in the scenario of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates an example of processes in whichdownlink data traffic is controlled according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an example of processes in which uplinkdata traffic is controlled according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart for illustrating a method according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary block diagram for illustrating functionalitiesof a network element implementing functionalities corresponding to themethod of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart for illustrating a further method according toan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary block diagram for illustrating functionalitiesof a network element implementing functionalities corresponding to themethod of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates structures of a device according to anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the following, concepts in accordance with exemplary embodiments ofthe invention will be explained in more detail and with reference to theaccompanying drawings. The illustrated embodiments relate to controllingdata traffic in a wireless network. The wireless network may be based onthe NR technology, as for example specified in 3GPP TS 38.300 V15.7.0(2019-09), or on the LTE technology, as for example specified in 3GPP TS36.300 V15.7.0 (2019-09).

In the illustrated concepts, a Traffic Optimizer at the Device side(TOD) and a Traffic Optimizer at the Cloud side (TOC) are provided foroptimizing the data traffic. The TOD and the TOC cooperate to detectredundant payload in the data traffic and to remove at least a part ofthe redundant payload from the data traffic which is transmitted over awireless link. As a result, the overall data throughput on the wirelesslink may be reduced. In some scenarios, the removed redundant payloadmay correspond to data frames to multiple destination devices but havingsimilar payload, data frames from multiple source but having similarpayload, and/or data frames which have payload that reoccurs accordingto a periodic pattern. In such cases, removal of the redundant payloadmay involve omitting data frames with the redundant payload whentransmitting the data traffic over the wireless link. The omitted dataframes may then be reconstructed after receiving the data traffic fromthe wireless link. In other cases, the redundant payload may correspondto only a part of the payload of the data frames, and this part may beomitted when transmitting the data frames over the wireless link. Theomitted part of the data frame payload may then be reconstructed afterreceiving the data frames from the wireless link.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a data transmission scenario in whichthe illustrated concepts may be applied. The scenario of FIG. 1 assumesthat a wireless network 100 is used for connecting multiple industrialautomation devices (IADs) 21, 22, 23, 24, e.g., servo motors, robotarms, conveyor belts, or the like, to a multiple industrial automationcontrollers (IACs) 201, 202, 203. For this purpose, the IADs 11, 12, 13are connected, e.g., by a switch LAN (Local Area Network) and a switch(SW) 12, to a UE 10. The UE 10 is connected by a wireless link 50 to anaccess node 110 of the wireless network 100. In some scenarios, thewireless link may utilize the URLLC feature of the NR technology.

A gateway (GW) 120 of the wireless network 100 connects the access node110 to the further IOCs 201, 202, 203, e.g., through a further LANand/or through the Internet. Further, a TOD 11 is coupled between the UE10 and the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24, and a TOC 150 is coupled between theaccess node 110 and the IACs 201, 202, 203. In a downlink direction,data traffic from the controllers 201, 202, 203 may thus be conveyed viathe TOC 150, the wireless link 50, the UE 10, and the TOD 11 to the IACs11, 12, 13. In an uplink direction, data traffic from the IACs 21, 22,23, 24 may thus be conveyed via the TOD 11, the UE 10, the wireless link50, and the TOC 150 to the IACs 201, 202, 203. The data traffic betweenthe IACs 201, 202, 203 and the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 may be based onEthernet data frames. Between the IACs 201, 202, 203 and the UE 10, thedata frames may be conveyed in IP (Internet protocol) data packetsencapsulating one or more of the Ethernet data frames, using UDP (UserDatagram Protocol) as a transport protocol. However, other transportprotocols, e.g., TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), could be used aswell. The IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 may be individually addressed by acorresponding Ethernet MAC (Medium Access Control) address assigned toeach of the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24. The IACs may in turn be individuallyaddressed by a corresponding IP address assigned to each of the IACs201, 202, 203.

In the downlink direction the data traffic may include commands and/orpolling requests from the IACs 201, 202, 203 to the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24.In the uplink direction, the data traffic may include status reports orother feedback from the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 to the IACs 201, 202, 203.Accordingly, the UE 10 UE may handle data traffic for multiple IADs inparallel. The IACs 201, 202, 203 may be implemented as virtualizeddevices, e.g., using an edge cloud platform provided in a core network(CN) part and/or radio access network (RAN) part of the wireless network100. Further, it is noted that while FIG. 1 illustrates the TOD 11 andthe TOC 150 as separate nodes, functionalities of the TOD 11 could alsobe implemented as part of the UE 10, and functionalities of the TOC 150could also be implemented within other nodes of the wireless network100, e.g., by the GW 120 and/or by the access node 110.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a cyclic transmission pattern that mayoccur in the scenario of FIG. 1, e.g., between one of the IACs 201, 202,203 and one of the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24. In the example of FIG. 2, theIAC sends commands to the IAD and receives feedback messages from theIAD. The feedback messages may for example contain status informationand/or measurement results. The exchange of commands and feedbackinformation may be part of a control loop. A cycle time of the controlloop may be defined as the time between two consecutive commands sentfrom the IAC to the IAD. In the example of FIG. 2, the time by when theIAC expects to receive the feedback message for a given command isdenoted as “deadline”. It is noted that in the scenario of FIG. 1 thecommunication pattern on the wireless link could actually be morecomplex than illustrated in FIG. 2, e.g., due to different cycle timesused by different IACs 201, 202, 203 and/or for different IADs 21, 22,23, 24. Further, the sending of the feedback messages may be triggeredby polling requests from the IACs 201, 202, 203, and the timing of thepolling requests may differ from the timing of the commands send by theIACs.

FIG. 3 shows exemplary processes for illustrating operation of the TOC150 and the TOD 11 in the case of optimizing downlink data traffic fromthe IACs 201, 202, 203 to the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24. The processes of FIG.3 involve the TOC 150, the TOD 11, and a group 20 of IADs, e.g.,including at least some of the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24.

As mentioned above, the data traffic from the IACs 201, 202, 203 to theIADs 21, 22, 23, 24 may include polling requests. Upon receipt of suchpolling request, the IAD 21, 22, 23, 24 will send a status report. Inthe polling requests are typically rather simplistic regarding theirinformation content. In particular, the polling requests typically havealmost the same content each time they are transmitted, i.e., there isalmost no variation among the polling requests as transmitted over timefrom which a given IOC 201, 202, 203 to a given IAD 21, 22, 23, 24.Further, the polling requests are also highly similar for different IADs21, 22, 23, 24 and different IACs 201, 202, 203. This will typicallycause redundancy of payload of data frames over the wireless link 50.

FIG. 3 illustrates redundant data frames 301, 303, 305 which areforwarded via the wireless link 50 from the TOC 150 to the TOD 11. Asillustrated by 302, 304, 306, the TOD 11 forwards the redundant dataframes to the group 20 of IADs. The redundant data frames includeredundant payload, e.g. , in the form of polling requests. The TOD 11analyzes the forwarded data frames, detects the redundant payload, anddetermines a traffic profile describing the redundant payload. Thetraffic profile may for example indicate the redundant payload, adestination of the redundant payload, e.g., in terms of an address ofthe IAD 21, 22, 23, 24 the data frames are forwarded to, and/or a sourceof the redundant payload, e.g., e.g., in terms of an address of the IAC201, 202, 203, the data frames are received from. Further, the trafficprofile may indicate a timing according to which the redundant payloadis transmitted, e.g., in terms of a periodic pattern. Still further, thetraffic profile may indicate a pattern of sequence numbers and/orchecksums included in the redundant payload. Various types of trafficinspection mechanisms may be applied in the TOD 11 to learn the trafficprofile. For example, such traffic inspection mechanism may operate bydetecting parts of the data frames which vary between the data framesand determining a correlation between the data frames addressed todifferent IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 and/or between data frames of the samestream, i.e., data frames addressed to the same IAD 21, 22, 23, 24 andoriginating from the same IAC 201, 202, 203.

In a scenario like illustrated in FIG. 1, where multiple IADs 21, 22,23, 24, are connected to the same UE 10, the TOC 150 can optimize thedownlink data traffic by replacing multiple redundant data frames to thedifferent IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 by a single redundant data frame, i.e., byomitting all but one of the redundant data frames. Upon receiving theremaining single data frame, the TOD 11 replicates the data frame forforwarding to all of the originally intended recipients, as defined inthe traffic profile. This may include providing the replicated dataframes with the correct addresses of the respective IAD 21, 22, 23, 24.Further, this may involve recreating the sequence numbers and/orchecksums of the replicated data frames.

In the example of FIG. 3, the TOD 11 may for example learn from thereceived redundant data frames 301, 303, 305 that the data traffic tothe group 20 of IADs includes polling requests which are highly similarfor the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 of the group 20, and that the pollingrequests are sent according to a periodic time pattern. Further, the TOD11 may learn the addresses of the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 the data frames301, 303, 305 are sent to. The resulting traffic profile may then forexample indicate that each time a polling request is sent to one of theIADs 21, 22, 23, 24, a similar polling request is also sent to the otherIADs 21, 22, 23, 24, and how the polling requests to the other IADs 21,22, 23, 24 differ from each other, e.g., in terms of destinationaddress, source address, sequence number, or the like. With thisinformation, the TOD 11 can use one polling request to replicate theother polling requests.

Having learnt the traffic profile, the TOD 11 sends redundancyinformation 307 indicating the identified redundant payload and theunderlying traffic profile to the TOC 150. In some scenarios, the TOC150 may also confirm to the TOD 11 that it received the redundancyinformation and will now optimize the forwarded data traffic by removingthe redundant payload. For subsequently forwarded data frames, the TOC150 may then optimize the data traffic by removing the redundant payloadbefore forwarding the data traffic via the wireless link 50. In theexample of FIG. 3 this involves replacing the redundant data frames witha single data frame 308, 310, which is forwarded to the TOD 11. The TOD11 then reconstructs the removed redundant payload by using the singledata frame 308, 310 to replicate the omitted redundant data frames. TheTOD 11 can then forward the reconstructed data frames 309, 311 to thegroup 20 of IADs.

The redundancy information 307 may for example be transmitted in an IPdata packet addressed to the TOC 150. The redundancy information 307 mayindicate the redundant payload in terms of a destination address of amain IAD and destination addresses of one or more redundant IADs, whichreceive the same redundant payload as the main IAD. Further, theredundancy information may indicate detected traffic parameters likeperiodicity, sequence numbers, payload size, payload content, a payloadvariation pattern, or the like. When optimizing the data traffic, theTOC 150 may omit the data frames addressed to the redundant IADs andonly forward the data frames addressed to the main IAD.

If subsequently the TOC 150 detects a change of traffic pattern in theforwarded data traffic, e.g., if there is a change of the data framepayload that deviates from the indicated traffic profile, the TOC 150can fall back to forwarding the complete payload, like for the dataframes 301, 303, 305, so that a loss of potentially relevant informationcan be avoided. It is noted that in some situations, in response toreceiving the redundancy information, the TOC 150 could also decide notto apply the optimization of the forwarded data traffic, e.g., if thedata traffic currently pending to be forwarded at the TOC 150 alreadydeviates from the indicated traffic profile, or if the TOC 150 isconfigured with information indicating that the identified redundantpayload is of a high priority type, for which such optimizationprocesses are not allowed.

It is noted that a redundancy due to similar polling requests being sentto multiple IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 is merely an example of potentialredundancies which can be addressed by the cooperative optimizationapplied by the TOC 150 and the TOD 11. For example, redundancies couldoccur according to a more complex pattern, e.g., where polling requestsare sent according to a pattern which alternates between two or more ofthe TODs 21, 22, 23, 24. Further, redundancies may also occur for othertypes of payload than polling requests, e.g., for commands sent from theIACs 201, 202, 203 to the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24. As compared to thepolling requests, for commands there may be a higher variability of thepayload over time and also a higher variability of the payload betweendifferent IADs 21, 22, 23, 24. This additional variability may beaddressed by considering corresponding information in the trafficprofile, e.g., by indicating position and/or sizes of redundant parts ofthe payload within a data frame, so that such parts can be removedindividually, while keeping other parts of the data frame. Accordingly,rather by omitting complete data frames at the TOC 150 and replicatingthese data frames at the TOD 11, the optimization may also involveremoving redundant parts of the payload from a data frame andreconstructing the removed parts at the TOD 11.

FIG. 4 shows exemplary processes for illustrating operation of the TOC150 and the TOD 11 in the case of optimizing uplink data traffic fromthe IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 to the IACs 201, 202, 203. The processes of FIG.4 involve the TOD 11, the TOC 150, and a group 200 of IACs, e.g.,including at least some of the IACs 201, 202, 203.

As mentioned above, the data traffic from the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 to theIACs 201, 202, 203, 204 may include status reports. Such status reportsmay also include data subject to frequent changes, such as real-timemeasurement values or real-time data on robot movements. On the otherhand, the status reports may also include data which is more or lessstatic, such as device or deployment configuration information, serialnumbers, or environmental measurements like temperature or atmosphericpressure. Accordingly, while the payload of the status reports mayinclude information which redundantly reoccurs over time or fordifferent IADs 21, 22, 23, 24, parts of the payload are typicallynon-redundant.

FIG. 4 illustrates redundant data frames 401, 403, 405 which areforwarded via the wireless link 50 from the TOD 11 to the TOC 150. Asillustrated by 402, 404, 406, the TOD 11 forwards the redundant dataframes to the group 200 of IACs. The redundant data frames includeredundant payload corresponding to certain parts of the redundant dataframes 401, 403, 405, e.g. , in the form of substantially staticinformation or information which is commonly reported by multiple IADs21, 22, 23, 24. The TOC 150 analyzes the forwarded data frames, detectsthe redundant payload, and determines a traffic profile describing theredundant payload. The traffic profile may for example indicate theredundant payload, a destination of the redundant payload, e.g., interms of an address of the IAC 201, 202, 203 the data frames areforwarded to, and/or a source of the redundant payload, e.g., e.g., interms of an address of the IAD 21, 22, 23, 24 the data frames arereceived from. Further, the traffic profile may indicate a timingaccording to which the redundant payload is transmitted, e.g., in termsof a periodic pattern. Still further, the traffic profile may indicate apattern of sequence numbers and/or checksums included in the redundantpayload. Various types of traffic inspection mechanisms may be appliedin the TOC 150 to learn the traffic profile. For example, such trafficinspection mechanism may operate by detecting parts of the data frameswhich vary between the data frames and determining a correlation betweenthe data frames originating from different IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 and/oraddressed to different IACs 201, 202, 203. Such correlations may inparticular occur between data frames of the same stream, i.e., dataframes originating from the same IAD 21, 22, 23, 24 and addressed to thesame IAC 201, 202, 203. However, in some cases such correlations mayalso occur between data frames of the of different streams, i.e., dataframes originating from different IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 or addressed todifferent IACs 201, 202, 203. For example, when sending status reportsin a given cycle, the cycle number could be part of the status reportsand be the same for all IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 and all IACs 201, 203, 204.

The TOD 11 can optimize the uplink data traffic by removing partscorresponding to the detected redundant payload from the data frameswhile keeping non-redundant parts of the data frames. Upon receiving theresulting reduced data frames, the TOC 150 reconstructs the removedparts according to the traffic profile. This may include supplementingthe the data frames with information derived from the traffic profile.

In the example of FIG. 4, the TOC 150 may for example learn from thereceived redundant data frames 401, 403, 405 that the data traffic tothe group 200 of IACs includes status reports with parts which arehighly similar over time. In some cased, the TOC 150 may also learn thatthe status reports include information which is highly similar formultiple source IADs 21, 22, 23, 24 or information which is highlysimilar for multiple destination IACs 201, 203, 204. Further, the TOD150 may learn the position of such redundant parts within the dataframes 401, 403, 405. The TOD 150 may also learn the addresses of theIADs 21, 22, 23, 24 the data frames 401, 403, 405 originate from and/orthe addresses of the IACs 201, 202, 203 the data frames 401, 403, 405are sent to. The resulting traffic profile may then for example indicatethat when a status report is sent by one of the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24,future status reports from the IAD 21, 22, 23, 24 will including similarinformation, and which part of the status report includes the similarinformation. Further, the resulting traffic profile may then for exampleindicate that each time a status report is sent by one of the IADs 21,22, 23, 24, a status report including similar information is also sentby one or more other IADs 21, 22, 23, 24, and which part of the statusreport includes the similar information. Further, the TOC 150 may alsolearn variation patterns of such similar information. With the learntinformation, the TOC 150 can use deduce parts of certain received dataframes to reconstruct omitted parts of other data frames.

Having learnt the traffic profile, the TOC 150 sends redundancyinformation 407 indicating the identified redundant payload and theunderlying traffic profile to the TOD 11. In some scenarios, the TOD 11may also confirm to the TOC 150 that it received the redundancyinformation and will now optimize the forwarded data traffic by removingthe redundant payload. For subsequently forwarded data frames, the TOD11 may then optimize the data traffic by removing the redundant payloadbefore forwarding the data traffic via the wireless link 50. In theexample of FIG. 4 this involves removing redundant parts of the dataframes, resulting in reduced data frames 408, 410, which are forwardedto the TOC 150. The TOC 150 then reconstructs the removed redundantpayload by using the traffic profile and other received data frames todetermine the omitted redundant parts and supplement the omittedredundant parts. The TOC 150 can then forward the reconstructed dataframes 409, 411 to the group 200 of IACs.

The redundancy information 407 may for example be transmitted in an IPdata packet addressed to the TOD 11. The redundancy information 407 mayindicate the redundant payload in terms of a position and/or size of adata frame part including the redundant payload, e.g., in terms of abyte location and/or size in bytes. Further, the redundancy informationmay indicate the redundant payload in terms of a source address of theIAD which sends the redundant payload and/or a destination address ofthe IAC receiving the redundant payload. Further, the redundancyinformation may indicate the redundant payload in terms of a sourceaddress of a main IAD and source addresses of one or more redundantIADs, which send the same redundant payload as the main IAD. Further,the redundancy information may indicate detected traffic parameters likeperiodicity, sequence numbers, payload size, payload content, a payloadvariation pattern, or the like. When optimizing the data traffic, theTOD 11 may omit the indicated redundant parts of the data frames.

If subsequently the TOD 11 detects a change of traffic pattern in theforwarded data traffic, e.g., if there is a change of the data framepayload that deviates from the indicated traffic profile, the TOD 11 canfall back to forwarding the complete payload, like for the data frames401, 403, 405, so that a loss of potentially relevant information can beavoided. It is noted that in some situations, in response to receivingthe redundancy information, the TOD 11 could also decide not to applythe optimization of the forwarded data traffic, e.g., if the datatraffic currently pending to be forwarded at the TOD 11 already deviatesfrom the indicated traffic profile, or if the TOD 11 is configured withinformation indicating that the identified redundant payload is of ahigh priority type, for which such optimization processes are notallowed.

In some cases, the optimization of the data traffic may also involveremoving further payload from the forwarded data traffic. In particular,such removal may concern payload classified to have a low priority. Suchlow priority payload may for example be transmitted at a lowerperiodicity than other payload or could even be completely omitted. Forexample, the status reports from the IADs 21, 22, 23, 24, to the IACs201, 202, 203 may include different parts of the payload to whichdifferent priority levels are assigned. According to these differentpriority levels, the TOD 11 may selectively remove the payload from someof the data frames, e.g., from every n-th data frame originating from agiven IAD 21, 22, 23, 24, where n is an integer depending on thepriority level. The TOC 150 may then reconstruct the omitted parts,e.g., using an interpolation mechanism or more advanced machine learningmechanism.

According to an exemplary scenario, status reports when controllingmotion of a servo may contain information elements like actual positionof the servo, actual velocity of the servo, actual torque measured onthe servo, input/output data, gyroscope data, measured temperature, anddata from an accelerometer associated with the servo. In accordance withthe relevance of these information elements in the control application,different priority levels may be assigned to the information elements.This may for example involve configuration of the TOD 11 by the controlapplication, e.g., as executed on the respective IAC 201, 202, 203. Forexample, a high, a medium, and a low priority level could be defined,and the high priority level could be assigned to the position, velocityand torque information elements, because they may be updated andutilized in each control cycle. The input/output data informationelement could be assigned the medium priority level, and the otherinformation elements, including the gyroscope data, temperature data,and accelerometer data, may be assigned the lowest priority level. TheTOD 11 could then optimized the data traffic conveying the statusreports by keeping the position, velocity and torque informationelements in all the status reports, removing the input/outputinformation element from all but every tenth status report, and removingthe gyroscope data, temperature data, and accelerometer data from allbut every 100^(th) status report. The TOC 150 may utilize aninterpolation mechanism to reconstruct the removed information elementsfrom the less frequently transmitted information elements. Further, theTOC 150 could utilize a machine learning mechanism to reconstruct theremoved information elements. Such machine learning mechanism could betrained in a phase when completely transmitting the status reports, alsoincluding the information elements of the medium and low priority level.

It is noted that the above-mentioned priority based removing of payloadcould of course also be applied by the TOC 150 for optimizing downlinkdata traffic. Further, the priority based removing of payload may beapplied in addition to the above-mentioned removing of detectedredundant payload or as an alternative to the removing of detectedredundant payload.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart for illustrating a method of controlling datatransmission in a wireless network. The method of FIG. 5 may be utilizedfor implementing the illustrated concepts in a device handling the datatraffic on a source side of a wireless link, e.g., the above-mentionedwireless link 50. In the case of downlink data traffic, the device maycorrespond to the above-mentioned TOC 150. In the case of downlink datatraffic, the device may also be implemented within a node of thewireless communication network, e.g., as part of a user plane gateway,such as the above-mentioned gateway 120, or within an access node, suchas the above-mentioned access node 110. In the case of uplink datatraffic, the device may correspond to the above-mentioned TOD 11. In thecase of uplink data traffic, the device may also be implemented within aUE for connecting to the wireless network, e.g., such as theabove-mentioned UE 10.

If a processor-based implementation of the device is used, at least someof the steps of the method of FIG. 5 may be performed and/or controlledby one or more processors of the device. Such device may also include amemory storing program code for implementing at least some of the belowdescribed functionalities or steps of the method of FIG. 5.

At step 510, the device receives data traffic from one or more sourcedevices. In the case of downlink data traffic, the one or more sourcedevices may for example correspond to one or more of the above-mentionedIACs 201, 202, 203. In the case of uplink data traffic, the one or moresource devices may for example correspond to one or more of theabove-mentioned IADs 21, 22, 23, 24.

At step 520, the device forwards the data traffic towards one or moredestination devices. In the case of downlink data traffic, the one ormore destination devices may for example correspond to one or more ofthe above-mentioned IADs 21, 22, 23. In the case of uplink data traffic,the one or more destination devices may for example correspond to one ormore of the above-mentioned IACs 201, 202, 203. The forwarding of thedata traffic towards the one or more destination devices is accomplishedvia the wireless link and via a further device, arranged on adestination side of the wireless link. In the case of downlink datatraffic, the further device may correspond to the above-mentioned TOD11. In the case of uplink data traffic, the further device maycorrespond to the above-mentioned TOC 150.

Accordingly, in some scenarios the one or more source devices mayinclude one or more industrial automation controllers and the one ormore destination devices may include one or more industrial automationdevices controlled by the one or more industrial automation controllers.In such scenarios the data traffic to be forwarded by the device mayinclude polling requests from the one or more industrial automationcontrollers to the one or more industrial automation devices and/orcontrol commands from the one or more industrial automation controllersto the one or more industrial automation devices.

In other scenarios, the one or more destination devices may include oneor more industrial automation controllers and the one or more sourcedevices may include one or more industrial automation devices controlledby the one or more industrial automation controllers. In such scenarios,the data traffic forwarded by the device may include status reports fromthe one or more industrial automation devices to the one or moreindustrial automation controllers.

At step 530, the device receives redundancy information from the furtherdevice. The redundancy information indicates redundant payload which iscommon to multiple data frames in the data traffic forwarded by thedevice. In the case of downlink data traffic, the redundancy informationmay for example correspond to above-mentioned redundancy information307. In the case of uplink data traffic, the redundancy information mayfor example correspond to above-mentioned redundancy information 407.

In some scenarios, the one or more destination devices may correspond tomultiple destination devices. In this case the multiple data frames mayinclude multiple data frames addressed to different ones of thedestination devices. In such scenarios, the redundancy information mayindicate the destination devices the multiple data frames are addressedto.

In some scenarios, the one or more source devices may correspond tomultiple source devices. In this case the multiple data frames mayinclude multiple data frames from different ones of the source devices.In such scenarios, the redundancy information may indicate the sourcedevices the multiple data frames originate from.

In some scenarios, the multiple data frames may include multiple dataframes transmitted at different time instances. In such scenarios, thedifferent time instances may define a periodic pattern and theredundancy information may indicate the periodic pattern.

In some scenarios, the redundancy information may also indicate avariation pattern of the redundant payload, sequence numbers of themultiple data frames, and/or a pattern underlying the sequence numbersof the multiple data frames.

At step 540, the device removes the indicated redundant payload from atleast a part of the data traffic to be forwarded by the device towardsthe one or more destination devices. This is accomplished based on theredundancy information received at step 530.

In some scenarios, the device may remove the indicated redundant payloadby omitting at least one data frame from the data traffic to beforwarded. Alternatively or in addition, the device may remove theindicated redundant payload by removing the redundant payload from atleast one data frame of the data traffic to be forwarded.

At step 550, the device may utilize priorities assigned to one or moreparts of the payload to selectively remove the one or more parts of thepayload from the data traffic to be forwarded. In particular, the devicemay remove low-priority parts of the payload from the data traffic to beforwarded. The selective removal may be accomplished in such a way thata part of the payload, to which a high low priority is assigned, isremoved more frequently than other parts of the payload. It is notedthat in some scenarios the priority-based removing of payload of step550 could also be applied independently from the redundancy basedremoving of payload of step 540. In such alternative method, steps 530and 540 could be omitted.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram for illustrating functionalities of adevice 600 which operates according to the method of FIG. 5. The device600 may have the purpose of handling data traffic on a source side of awireless link, e.g., the above-mentioned wireless link 50, and maytherefore also be referred to as a source-side device. In the case ofdownlink data traffic, the device 600 may correspond to theabove-mentioned TOC 150. In the case of uplink data traffic, the device600 may correspond to the above-mentioned TOD 11. As illustrated, thedevice 600 may be provided with a module 610 configured to receive datatraffic, such as explained in connection with step 510. Further, thedevice 600 may be provided with a module 620 configured to forward thedata traffic, such as explained in connection with step 520. Further,the device 600 may be provided with a module 630 configured to receiveredundancy information, such as explained in connection with step 530.Further, the device 600 may be provided with a module 640 configured toremove redundant payload, such as explained in connection with step 540.Further, the device 600 may be provided with a module 550 configured toselectively remove payload based on priorities, such as explained inconnection with step 550.

It is noted that the device 600 may include further modules forimplementing other functionalities, such as known functionalities of auser plane gateway, access node, or UE. Further, it is noted that themodules of the device 600 do not necessarily represent a hardwarestructure of the device 600, but may also correspond to functionalelements, e.g., implemented by hardware, software, or a combinationthereof.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart for illustrating a further method ofcontrolling data transmission in a wireless network. The method of FIG.7 may be utilized for implementing the illustrated concepts in a devicehandling the data traffic on a destination side of a wireless link,e.g., the above-mentioned wireless link 50. In the case of downlink datatraffic, the device may correspond to the above-mentioned TOD 11. In thecase of downlink data traffic, the device may also be implemented withina UE for connecting to the wireless network, e.g., such as theabove-mentioned UE 10. In the case of uplink data traffic, the devicemay correspond to the above-mentioned TOC 150. In the case of uplinkdata traffic, the device may also be implemented within a node of thewireless communication network, e.g., as part of a user plane gateway,such as the above-mentioned gateway 120, or within an access node, suchas the above-mentioned access node 110.

If a processor-based implementation of the device is used, at least someof the steps of the method of FIG. 7 may be performed and/or controlledby one or more processors of the device. Such device may also include amemory storing program code for implementing at least some of the belowdescribed functionalities or steps of the method of FIG. 7.

At step 710, the device receives data traffic from one or more sourcedevices. In the case of downlink data traffic, the one or more sourcedevices may for example correspond to one or more of the above-mentionedIACs 201, 202, 203. In the case of uplink data traffic, the one or moresource devices may for example correspond to one or more of theabove-mentioned IADs 21, 22, 23, 24. The data traffic is received viathe wireless link and via a further device, arranged on a source side ofthe wireless link. In the case of downlink data traffic, the furtherdevice may correspond to the above-mentioned TOC 150. In the case ofuplink data traffic, the further device may correspond to theabove-mentioned TOD 11.

At step 720, the device forwards the data traffic towards one or moredestination devices. In the case of downlink data traffic, the one ormore destination devices may for example correspond to one or more ofthe above-mentioned IADs 21, 22, 23. In the case of uplink data traffic,the one or more destination devices may for example correspond to one ormore of the above-mentioned IACs 201, 202, 203.

Accordingly, in some scenarios the one or more source devices mayinclude one or more industrial automation controllers and the one ormore destination devices may include one or more industrial automationdevices controlled by the one or more industrial automation controllers.In such scenarios the data traffic to be forwarded by the device mayinclude polling requests from the one or more industrial automationcontrollers to the one or more industrial automation devices and/orcontrol commands from the one or more industrial automation controllersto the one or more industrial automation devices.

In other scenarios, the one or more destination devices may include oneor more industrial automation controllers and the one or more sourcedevices may include one or more industrial automation devices controlledby the one or more industrial automation controllers. In such scenarios,the data traffic forwarded by the device may include status reports fromthe one or more industrial automation devices to the one or moreindustrial automation controllers.

At step 730, the device detects redundant payload which is common tomultiple data frames in the data traffic forwarded by the device. Insome scenarios, the one or more destination devices may correspond tomultiple destination devices. In this case the multiple data frames mayinclude multiple data frames addressed to different ones of thedestination devices. In some scenarios, the one or more source devicesmay correspond to multiple source devices. In this case the multipledata frames may include multiple data frames from different ones of thesource devices. In some scenarios, the multiple data frames may includemultiple data frames transmitted at different time instances.

At step 740, the device sends redundancy information to the furtherdevice. In the case of downlink data traffic, the redundancy informationmay for example correspond to above-mentioned redundancy information307. In the case of uplink data traffic, the redundancy information mayfor example correspond to above-mentioned redundancy information 407.

If the multiple data frames with redundant payload detected at step 730include multiple data frames addressed to different ones of multipledestination devices, the redundancy information may indicate thedestination devices the multiple data frames are addressed to. If themultiple data frames with redundant payload detected at step 730 includemultiple data frames from different ones of the source devices, theredundancy information may indicate the source devices the multiple dataframes originate from.

If the multiple data frames with redundant payload detected at step 730include multiple data frames transmitted at different time instances,the different time instances may define a periodic pattern and theredundancy information may indicate the periodic pattern. In somescenarios, the redundancy information may also indicate a variationpattern of the redundant payload, sequence numbers of the multiple dataframes, and/or a pattern underlying the sequence numbers of the multipledata frames.

At step 750, in response to sending the redundancy information at step740, the device receives further data traffic from the one or moresource devices. From the further data traffic received at step 750,redundant payload indicated by the redundancy information was removed bythe further device.

At step 760, the device reconstructs the removed redundant payload. Thismay be accomplished based on information obtained at step 740, e.g.,based on the redundancy information sent at 740.

In some scenarios, the device may reconstruct the redundant payload byadding a removed redundant data frame to the data traffic to beforwarded, e.g., by replicating the removed data frame from another dataframe which was received at step 750 or at step 710. Alternatively or inaddition, the device may reconstruct the indicated redundant payload byadding removed redundant payload to at least data frame of the datatraffic to be forwarded. The added removed payload may be based onanother data frame received at step 750 or at step 710.

In some scenarios, the further device may also have selectively removedparts of the payload of the data traffic received at step 750 accordingto priorities assigned to the parts, e.g., due to the parts beingassigned a low priority level. In such cases, the device may performstep 770 and apply an interpolation process and/or a machine-learningprocess to reconstruct the removed parts of the payload. Theinterpolation process and/or machine-learning process may be based onthe payload of the further data traffic received at step 750 and/or onthe payload of the data traffic received at step 710. It is noted thatin some scenarios the reconstruction of selectively removed parts ofpayload of step 770 could also be applied independently from thereconstruction of redundant payload of step 760. In such alternativemethod, steps 730, 740, 750, and 760 could be omitted.

At step 780, the device forwards the received further data traffic withthe reconstructed redundant payload towards the one or more destinationdevices.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram for illustrating functionalities of adevice 800 which operates according to the method of FIG. 7. The device800 may have the purpose of handling data traffic on a destination sideof a wireless link, e.g., the above-mentioned wireless link 50, and maytherefore also be referred to as a destination-side device. In the caseof downlink data traffic, the device 800 may correspond to theabove-mentioned TOD 11. In the case of uplink data traffic, the device800 may correspond to the above-mentioned TOC 150. As illustrated, thedevice 800 may be provided with a module 810 configured to receive datatraffic, such as explained in connection with steps 710 and 750.Further, the device 800 may be provided with a module 820 configured toforward the data traffic, such as explained in connection with steps 720and 780. Further, the device 800 may be provided with a module 830configured to detect redundant payload, such as explained in connectionwith step 730. Further, the device 800 may be provided with a module 840configured to send redundancy information, such as explained inconnection with step 740. Further, the device 800 may be provided with amodule 640 configured to reconstruct removed payload, such as explainedin connection with step 760 and/or 770.

It is noted that the device 800 may include further modules forimplementing other functionalities, such as known functionalities of auser plane gateway, access node, or UE. Further, it is noted that themodules of the device 800 do not necessarily represent a hardwarestructure of the device 800, but may also correspond to functionalelements, e.g., implemented by hardware, software, or a combinationthereof.

It is noted that the illustrated concepts could also be implemented by asystem including a source-side device operating according to the methodof FIG. 5 and a destination-side device operating according to themethod of FIG. 7. In such system, the source-side device would implementfunctionalities as described for the device in the method of FIG. 5 andas described for the further device in the method of FIG. 7, and thedestination-side device would implement functionalities as described forthe device in the method of FIG. 7 and as described for the furtherdevice in the method of FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 illustrates a processor-based implementation of a traffichandling device 900 which may be used for implementing theabove-described concepts. For example, the structures as illustrated inFIG. 9 may be used for implementing the functionalities of theabove-mentioned TOC 150 or in the above-mentioned TOD 11.

As illustrated, the traffic handling device 900 includes one or moreinterfaces 910. In some scenarios, e.g., if the traffic handling devicecorresponds to an access node or to a UE, the interfaces 910 may includea radio interface for establishing the above-mentioned wireless link.Such radio interface could be based on the NR technology.

Further, the traffic handling device 900 may include one or moreprocessors 950 coupled to the interface(s) 910 and a memory 960 coupledto the processor(s) 950. By way of example, the interface(s) 910, theprocessor(s) 950, and the memory 960 could be coupled by one or moreinternal bus systems of the traffic handling device 900. The memory 960may include a Read-Only-Memory (ROM), e.g., a flash ROM, a Random AccessMemory (RAM), e.g., a Dynamic RAM (DRAM) or Static RAM (SRAM), a massstorage, e.g., a hard disk or solid state disk, or the like. Asillustrated, the memory 960 may include software 970 and/or firmware980. The memory 960 may include suitably configured program code to beexecuted by the processor(s) 950 so as to implement the above-describedfunctionalities of a traffic handling device, such as explained inconnection with FIGS. 5 to 8.

It is to be understood that the structures as illustrated in FIG. 9 aremerely schematic and that the traffic handling device 900 may actuallyinclude further components which, for the sake of clarity, have not beenillustrated, e.g., further interfaces or processors. Also, it is to beunderstood that the memory 960 may include further program code forimplementing known functionalities of a traffic handling device, e.g.,known functionalities of a user plane gateway, of an access node, or ofa UE. According to some embodiments, also a computer program may beprovided for implementing functionalities of the traffic handling device900, e.g., in the form of a physical medium storing the program codeand/or other data to be stored in the memory 960 or by making theprogram code available for download or by streaming.

As can be seen, the concepts as described above may be used forefficiently transmitting data traffic through a wireless linkestablished by a wireless network. Specifically, the concepts may beused to reduce overall throughput on the wireless link, by removingredundant payload from the data traffic.

It is to be understood that the examples and embodiments as explainedabove are merely illustrative and susceptible to various modifications.For example, the illustrated concepts may be applied in connection withvarious kinds of radio technologies, without limitation to the NRtechnology, e.g., using the LTE technology. Further, the concepts may beapplied with respect to various types of source and destination devices,without limitation to industrial automation devices and industrialautomation controllers. Moreover, it is to be understood that the aboveconcepts may be implemented by using correspondingly designed softwareto be executed by one or more processors of an existing device orapparatus, or by using dedicated device hardware. Further, it should benoted that the illustrated apparatuses or devices may each beimplemented as a single device or as a system of multiple interactingdevices or modules.

1. A method of controlling data traffic in a wireless network, themethod comprising: a device, arranged on a source side of a wirelesslink, receiving data traffic from one or more source devices; the deviceforwarding the data traffic via the wireless link and via a furtherdevice, arranged on a destination side of the wireless link, towards oneor more destination devices; the device receiving redundancy informationfrom the further device, the redundancy information indicating redundantpayload which is common to multiple data frames in the data trafficforwarded by the device; based on the redundancy information, the deviceremoving the indicated redundant payload from at least a part of thedata traffic to be forwarded by the device towards the one or moredestination devices.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or moredestination devices comprise multiple destination devices, the multipledata frames comprise multiple data frames addressed to different ones ofthe destination devices, and the redundancy information indicates thedestination devices the multiple data frames are addressed to. 3.(canceled)
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sourcedevices comprise multiple source devices, the multiple data framescomprise multiple data frames from different ones of the source devices,and the redundancy information indicates the source devices the multipledata frames originate from.
 5. (canceled)
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the multiple data frames comprise multiple data framestransmitted at different time instances, the different time instancesdefine a periodic pattern, and the redundancy information indicates theperiodic pattern.
 7. (canceled)
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theredundancy information indicates a variation pattern of the redundantpayload, the redundancy information indicates sequence numbers of themultiple data frames and/or a pattern underlying the sequence numbers ofthe multiple data frames, or the redundancy information indicates apattern underlying sequence numbers of the multiple data frames. 9-10.(canceled)
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the device removes theindicated redundant payload by omitting at least one data frame from thedata traffic to be forwarded, or the device removes the indicatedredundant payload by removing the redundant payload from at least onedata frame of the data traffic to be forwarded.
 12. (canceled)
 13. Themethod of claim 1, comprising: based on priorities assigned to one ormore parts of the payload, the device selectively removing the one ormore parts of the payload from the data traffic to be forwarded.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the one or more source devices comprise oneor more industrial automation controllers and the one or moredestination devices comprise one or more industrial automation devicescontrolled by the one or more industrial automation controllers. thedata traffic forwarded by the device comprises polling requests from theone or more industrial automation controllers to the one or moreindustrial automation devices, and the data traffic forwarded by thedevice comprises control commands from the one or more industrialautomation controllers to the one or more industrial automation devices.15-16. (canceled)
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or moredestination devices comprise one or more industrial automationcontrollers and the one or more source devices comprise one or moreindustrial automation devices controlled by the one or more industrialautomation controllers, and the data traffic forwarded by the device(11; 600; 900) comprises status reports from the one or more industrialautomation devices to the one or more industrial automation controllers.18. (canceled)
 19. A method of controlling data traffic in a wirelessnetwork, the method comprising: a device, arranged on a destination sideof a wireless link, receiving data traffic from one or more sourcedevices via the wireless link and via a further device, arranged on asource side of the wireless link; the device forwarding the receiveddata traffic towards one or more destination devices; the devicedetecting redundant payload which is common to multiple data frames inthe data traffic received by the device; the device sending redundancyinformation indicating the detected redundant payload to the furtherdevice; in response to sending the redundancy information, the devicereceiving further data traffic from which the indicated redundantpayload was removed by the further device; the device reconstructing theremoved redundant payload; and the device forwarding the receivedfurther data traffic with the reconstructed redundant payload towardsthe one or more destination devices.
 20. The method of claim 19, whereinthe one or more destination devices comprise multiple destinationdevices, the multiple data frames comprise multiple data framesaddressed to different ones of the destination devices, the redundancyinformation indicates the destination devices the multiple data framesare addressed to.
 21. (canceled)
 22. The method of claim 19, wherein theone or more source devices comprise multiple source devices, themultiple data frames comprise multiple data frames from different onesof the source devices, and the redundancy information indicates thesource devices the multiple data frames originate from.
 23. (canceled)24. The method of claim 19, wherein the multiple data frames comprisemultiple data frames transmitted at different time instances, thedifferent time instances define a periodic pattern, and the redundancyinformation indicates the periodic pattern.
 25. (canceled)
 26. Themethod of claim 19, wherein the redundancy information indicates avariation pattern of the redundant payload, the redundancy informationindicates sequence numbers of the multiple data frames and/or a patternunderlying the sequence numbers of the multiple data frames, or theredundancy information indicates a pattern underlying sequence numbersof the multiple data frames. 27-28. (canceled)
 29. The method of claim19, wherein the device reconstructs the redundant payload by adding aremoved redundant data frame to the data traffic to be forwarded, or thedevice reconstructs the indicated redundant payload by adding removedredundant payload to at least data frame of the data traffic to beforwarded, or the device reconstructs the indicated redundant payloadbased on an interpolation process and/or machine-learning process.30-31. (canceled)
 32. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or moresource devices comprise one or more industrial automation controllersand the one or more destination devices comprise one or more industrialautomation devices controlled by the one or more industrial automationcontrollers, the data traffic forwarded by the device comprises pollingrequests from the one or more industrial automation controllers to theone or more industrial automation devices, and the data trafficforwarded by the device comprises control commands from the one or moreindustrial automation controllers to the one or more industrialautomation devices. 33-34. (canceled)
 35. The method of claim 19,wherein the one or more destination devices comprise one or moreindustrial automation controllers and the one or more source devicescomprise one or more industrial automation devices controlled by the oneor more industrial automation controllers, and the data trafficforwarded by the device comprises status reports from the one or moreindustrial automation devices to the one or more industrial automationcontrollers.
 36. (canceled)
 37. A device for handling data traffic, thedevice comprising: at least one processor, and a memory containingprogram code executable by the at least one processor, wherein executionof the program code by the at least one processor causes the device to:forward data traffic via a wireless link and via a further devicearranged on a destination side of the wireless link, towards one or moredestination devices; based on redundancy information received from thefurther device, wherein the redundancy information indicates redundantpayload which is common to multiple data frames in the data trafficforwarded by the device, remove the indicated redundant payload from atleast a part of the data traffic to be forwarded by the device towardsthe one or more destination devices. 38-39. (canceled)
 40. A device forhandling data traffic, the device comprising: at least one processor,and a memory containing program code executable by the at least oneprocessor, wherein execution of the program code by the at least oneprocessor causes the device to: receive data traffic from one or moresource devices via the wireless link and via a further device, arrangedon a source side of the wireless link; forward towards one or moredestination devices data traffic received from a further device; detectredundant payload which is common to multiple data frames in the datatraffic; send redundancy information indicating the detected redundantpayload to the further device; after sending the redundancy information,process further data traffic from which the indicated redundant payloadwas removed by the further device, wherein the processing reconstructingthe removed redundant payload; forward the further data traffic with thereconstructed redundant payload towards the one or more destinationdevices. 41-43. (canceled)